I have been playing EQ2 since Nov 2004 and never played anything other a fighter! I am now thinking of leveling a healer from scratch but I can't really decide which healer class to level. So any help is appreciated! I would like to be able to solo well and mainly do heroics as a single healer and may be raid as well in the future. It doesn't have to the best healer in game right now but something fun to play, have some utility, decent dps and viable for soemthing. One things I would like to do is able to solo the healer epic 2.0 if I can. Too much to ask yes but hey! Druids - Warden/Fury seems to do very well but there are too many already, so they are on the bottom of the list. Shamans - From what I see, they are in great demand for raids but they are low on DPS these days? Clerics - Templar seems like good single target healer but again low end of DPS? Looks like not many people play inquisitors at all these days. Are they crap now? Channeler - I hardly see any these days. Is this because they are not god or they are hard to play? So given all that, any suggestions?
My experience does not include high level grouping/raiding however, I can certainly offer up opinions from soloing. Any healer can solo pretty fairly well. The way solo instances are tuned, they don't seem to give healers much issue, especially if you have access to mercenaries to do some of your dps. You won't kill things as fast as some other classes, but you really will never have to worry about dying. I personally prefer mystics and wardens for that, but those are the ones I've played longest so that likely has a lot to do with my preference. Channeler, they take a lot more getting used to than most other healers. I'm no good at it myself outside of soloing, I'd hate to have to heal a group as one. I'm of the opinion they probably can be alright if you can play it well, however they are by far the hardest healer to play well. *** I have not yet attempted to solo epic 2.0, so I'm not sure which one will be best for that. It's on my agenda, but I've been too busy to get leveling to 110 done even.
Be aware if you do group in LFG, often the tanks will mass pull, and fast and expect you to keep up, even though you need time to stop and loot. And if anyone dies, its the healer or tank's fault. But don't believe me. Talk to different healers on your server and ask them how well they do in groups and raids and such, to get a better idea how each class performs.
Don't overlook Wardens. Like real life, sometimes there are so many of a character type because they're popular and very useful. Personal observations: Druids - Warden (4x L110) - Good all around 'workhorse' healer; solo, heroic, raid. The Healing Grove spell can be a life saver with mana replenishment. The Tree is also great for hiding those deaders you missed. Depending on the ascension class, has out parsed (Heroic) DPS on (infrequent) occasion. Anyone can run a Warden; I'm a tank. Leather Armor. Leather is cool. Druids - Fury (1x) - meh. Partial to Wardens, so sue me. Shamans - Defiler (1x L110) - Top healer, boring dps. I've seen someone else do this in raid. You can significantly boost dps, by ratcheting down healing. But watch the body count rise. When someone calls 'Medic', you don't want a dps-centric Defiler. Defilers are not a class, for people who don't like taking classes. Chain Armor. Clerics - Templar (1x L110) - In-between Druids and Shamans, in healing, dps, and difficulty of use. There is one perk. Everyone else may die around you, but you'll be the last. Because you're in Plate Armor. Clerics - Inquisitor (1x L110) - See Templar. There's more demand for Inquisitors than Templars. For one single reason; Verdict. "Verdict judges weak enemies of an encounter." Under specific conditions "Reduces target's health to 1." Useful when the raid is running on empty. And when you miss throwing Verdict, everyone will know your name. Plate Armor As Finora noted, and from observing a friend: Channeler - "a bow using, leather wearing, pet commanding, healing Priest class" In other words a Scout crossed with a Conjuror crossed with a (fill in blank) healer. If running a Defiler is college, a Channeler is graduate school. Can feel like it takes forever to build. The last two points are probably the reason for so few Channelers. But gosh darn they are effective in heroic. In regards to PUGs, one word in caution. When you see someone advertising "Looking for tank and healer" run away from them as fast as you can. Do you know Warden's have a speed boost buff?
any class can solo heal heroics raid ... few class can effectivelly solo heal at start of xpac : shamans, templars and maybe channelers Inquisitors and druids struggle because of lack of HP and incoming damage being higher than HP. as for solo the epic2 .. u cannot really at some points solo do it but if you want to .. need warden or defiler. or mystic .. you'll need mana regen. And only shamans (maybe channeler) can solo heal one part of the epic 2
First off, you'll never solo heal yourself for some aspects of your Epic 2.0. Just deal with that now. I have a defiler, warden, and inqy toons and they all have versatility and can get the job done in the right hands. If you're a healer, your job is to heal, cure detriments, and curses where possible and keep your group alive. DPS should be your last concern. It's icing on the cake, but no one gives a damn about your dps if your group is dying, trust me. Like it or not, you're a healer first and foremost. If a group's worried more about my dps, then my response would be, "when your ranger/mage start healing, you can start having conversations about my dps, haha". There were some good recommendations with more specific info done earlier here, so I won't repeat them. Your biggest challenge will be to learn to play your class well and know your capabilities. If you're in a guild, find a healer that can help mentor you. People are generally willing to help you learn if you ask them.
Best healer advice I've seen so far in this thread. I've played healers in every MMO--my favorite class--along with other classes. The point made earlier about the tank and healer being blamed for deaths is true. My favorite healer classes in EQ2 are templar, defiler, and fury. I also love my wardens and mystic. The templar has better survivability in most situations; but the defiler does the damage and still manages to be a fantastic healer. Raiding guilds need all the healers. My templar is a MT or OT raid healer, but she can't DPS worth squat. The defiler and fury really shine in those areas. In the end, it's about whether you love playing a class and can learn completence and keep your group alive.
Thanks all for your replies, they are very helpful but I am still can't make up my mind I have nothing against druids and was planning on creating one as they seem very fun however most of my friends all have a druid alt. This is why I was looking elsewhere. The reason why I asked about DPS is not to top pareses but more for ease of soloing. Yes everyone can solo but some healers can solo faster than others and I was wondering the soloablity of healers. I think I will level a Warden, Templar and Mystic to say around lvl 30 or 40 and get a feel of things. Are these levels enough to know if the "play style" is for me or not? I am not interested in who is powerful but the way the class play. Then pick a healer.
You might actually get a better taste if you make one of the freebie heriocs for each one. That way you can play it with some of the bells and whistles. The way any of them pay at 30 is not the same as they play 90+ You are missing key abilities and you'll hit a point between spell levels that your damage and heals will be far weaker (late 20s-40s can be rough with that 14 level spell replacement spread while you have to use the lower level abilities while the mobs are so much higher).
don't say that .. they'll bring a BL. but in all honesty end game stuff changes if you raid as shaman/channeler/templar .. you're main healer. if you are druid/inqui .. you are support healer. You cure, u back up heal .. but tbh on most raids, I (as a warden) only dps. I cast some heals for sure and cure, and always ready to heal if main healer is ported or stunned .. but I mostly cast damage spells and my spirit of druidism comes from that (best of my heals). Inquisitor do heal, but mostly buff, cure, HP boost groups. Same for furies, on big fights they help mitigate damage, they buff damage ... but our ward isn't strong enough and consistent enough to solo heal big fights. That's something to know. Right now at this stage, if you want to solo heal a raid group .. I guess it's templar/defiler for sure (don't know the exact state of mystic or channeler but should be doable). for soloing, furies are still the best imo. Lots of AoEs and damage without ascension. But for heroic soloing, furies have no innate mana regen so if fights takes too long or mana drains, they are f**ed. I'm right now leveling up both fury and defiler from 100 to 110 (none with epic 2), and can tell you, defiler is way more boring. Doable for sure but longer to kill stuff and dps. Wardens should be in between (with right AAs) and mystic too. no idea for clerics or channelers
Level 40 usually, for solo play. If you're more interested in end game content, do what Finora said and do the free trial level 95 heroic. It bombards you with spells and AAs and you have to read what they all do until your eyes cross, but it is an accurate way to see how the classes end up when Prestige/Dragon AA becomes your mainstay. I have one of every class. I found warden to be the easiest to level solo, then mystic, and not at all templar. I ended up PLing my templar around level 50 because it would take me ten to twenty minutes to do one 'kill x number of things' quest versus the five minutes on a warden. Inquisitor was much faster.
